Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse has been of women serving prison sentences for non-violent crimes since 1 January 2018.

At 31 March 2018, there were 2,271 sentenced females in the prison population for non-violent crimes (everything but violence against the person) and an additional 445 on remand. This information is publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2017.

Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS), does not calculate separately the average cost of prisoners by any type of offence. However, HMPPS routinely publishes average costs per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales, including all categories of the women’s estate. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year.

The most recent published figures, for financial year 2016-17, can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2016-to-2017. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment in the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab.

The courts have a range of sentences at their disposal including community sentences, suspended sentences, fines and custodial sentences. Custodial sentences are reserved for the most serious offences. Women diverted from custody and into community sentences, also have an associated cost to the taxpayer.